2.1 Enter PERICLES, wet.
PERICLES Yet cease your ire, you angry stars of heaven!
Wind, rain, and thunder, remember, earthly man
Is but a substance that must yield to you;
And I, as fits my nature, do obey you.
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Alas, the seas hath cast me on the rocks,
Wash’d me from shore to shore, and left me breath
Nothing to think on but ensuing death.
Let it suffice the greatness of your powers
To have bereft a prince of all his fortunes;
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And having thrown him from your wat’ry grave,
Here to have death in peace is all he’ll crave.
Enter three Fishermen.
1 FISHERMAN What, ho, Pilch!
2 FISHERMAN Ha, come and bring away the nets!
1 FISHERMAN What, Patch-breech, I say!
3 FISHERMAN What say you, master?
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1 FISHERMAN Look how thou stirr’st now! come away,
or I’ll fetch’th with a wanion.
3 FISHERMAN Faith, master, I am thinking of the poor
men that were cast away before us even now.
1 FISHERMAN Alas, pour souls, it griev’d my heart to
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hear what pitiful cries they made to us to help them,
when, well-a-day, we could scarce help ourselves.
3 FISHERMAN Nay, master, said not I as much when I
saw the porpoise, how he bounc’d and tumbled? they
say they’re half fish, half flesh; a plague on them, they
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ne’er come but I look to be wash’d! Master, I marvel
how the fishes live in the sea.
1 FISHERMAN Why, as men do a-land: the great ones eat
up the little ones. I can compare our rich misers to
nothing so fitly as to a whale: ’a plays and tumbles,
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driving the poor fry before him, and at last devours
them all at a mouthful. Such whales have I heard on
a’th’ land, who never leave gaping till they swallow’d
the whole parish, church, steeple, bells, and all.
PERICLES [aside] A pretty moral.
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3 FISHERMAN But, master, if I had been the sexton, I
would have been that day in the belfry.
2 FISHERMAN Why, man?
3 FISHERMAN Because he should have swallow’d me too;
and when I had been in his belly, I would have kept
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such a jangling of the bells, that he should never have
left till he cast bells, steeple, church, and parish up
again. But if the good King Simonides were of my
mind –
PERICLES [aside] Simonides?
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3 FISHERMAN We would purge the land of these drones,
that rob the bee of her honey.
PERICLES [aside] How from the finny subject of the sea
These fishers tell the infirmities of men;
And from their wat’ry empire recollect
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All that may men approve or men detect! –
Peace be at your labour, honest fishermen.
2 FISHERMAN
Honest! good fellow, what’s that? If it be a day fits you,
search out of the calendar, and nobody look after it.
PERICLES May see the sea hath cast upon your coast –
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2 FISHERMAN
What a drunken knave was the sea to cast thee in our
way!
PERICLES A man whom both the waters and the wind,
In that vast tennis-court, hath made the ball
For them to play upon, entreats you pity him;
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He asks of you, that never us’d to beg.
1 FISHERMAN No, friend, cannot you beg? here’s them
in our country of Greece gets more with begging than
we can do with working.
2 FISHERMAN Canst thou catch any fishes then?
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PERICLES I never practis’d it.
2 FISHERMAN Nay, then thou wilt starve, sure; for here’s
nothing to be got now-a-days, unless thou canst fish
for’t.
PERICLES What I have been I have forgot to know;
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But what I am, want teaches me to think on:
A man throng’d up with cold. My veins are chill,
And have no more of life than may suffice
To give my tongue that heat to ask your help;
Which if you shall refuse, when I am dead,
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For that I am a man, pray you see me buried.
1 FISHERMAN Die, quoth-a? Now gods forbid’t, and I
have a gown here, come, put it on; keep thee warm.
Now, afore me, a handsome fellow! come, thou shalt go
home, and we’ll have flesh for holidays, fish for
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fasting-days, and moreo’er puddings and flap-jacks;
and thou shalt be welcome.
PERICLES I thank you, sir.
2 FISHERMAN Hark you, my friend; you said you could
not beg.
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PERICLES I did but crave.
2 FISHERMAN But crave? then I’ll turn craver too, and so
I shall ’scape whipping.
PERICLES Why, are your beggars whipp’d then?
2 FISHERMAN O, not all, my friend, not all; for if all your
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beggars were whipp’d, I would wish no better office
than to be beadle. But, master, I’ll go draw up the net.
Exeunt Second and Third Fishermen.
PERICLES [aside] How well this honest mirth becomes
their labour!
1 FISHERMAN Hark you, sir; do you know where ye are?
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PERICLES Not well.
1 FISHERMAN Why, I’ll tell you: this is call’d Pentapolis,
and our king, the good Simonides.
PERICLES The good Simonides, do you call him?
1 FISHERMAN Ay, sir; and he deserves so to be call’d for
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his peacable reign and good government.
PERICLES He is a happy king, since he gains from his
subjects the name of good by his government. How far
is his court distant from this shore?
1 FISHERMAN Marry, sir, half a day’s journey. And I’ll
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tell you, he hath a fair daughter, and to-morrow is her
birthday; and there are princes and knights come
from all parts of the world to joust and tourney for
her love.
PERICLES Were my fortunes equal to my desires, I could
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wish to make one there.
1 FISHERMAN O, sir, things must be as they may; and
what a man cannot get, he may lawfully deal for his
wife’s soul.
Enter Second and Third Fishermen, drawing up a net.
2 FISHERMAN Help, master, help! here’s a fish hangs in
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the net, like a poor man’s right in the law; ’twill hardly
come out. Ha, bots on’t, ’tis come at last, and ’tis
turn’d to a rusty armour.
PERICLES An armour, friends! I pray you, let me see it.
Thanks, Fortune, yet, that after all thy crosses
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Thou giv’st me somewhat to repair myself;
And though it was mine own, part of mine heritage,
Which my dead father did bequeath to me,
With this strict charge, even as he left his life:
‘Keep it, my Pericles; it hath been a shield
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’Twixt me and death;’ – and pointed to his brace –
‘For that it sav’d me, keep it; in like necessity,
The which the gods protect thee from, may defend thee!’
It kept where I kept – I so dearly lov’d it –
Till the rough seas, that spares not any man,
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Took it in rage, though calm’d hath given’t again.
I thank thee for’t; my shipwreck now’s no ill,
Since I have here my father gave in his will.
1 FISHERMAN What mean you, sir?
PERICLES
To beg of you, kind friends, this coat of worth,
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For it was sometime target to a king;
I know it by this mark. He lov’d me dearly,
And for his sake I wish the having of it;
And that you’d guide me to your sovereign’s court,
Where with it I may appear a gentleman;
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And if that ever my low fortunes better,
I’ll pay your bounties; till then rest your debtor.
1 FISHERMAN Why, wilt thou tourney for the lady?
PERICLES I’ll show the virtue I have borne in arms.
1 FISHERMAN Why, di’e take it; and the gods give thee
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good on’t!
2 FISHERMAN Ay, but hark you, my friend; ’twas we that
made up this garment through the rough seams of the
waters: there are certain condolements, certain vails. I
hope, sir, if you thrive, you’ll remember from whence
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you had them.
PERICLES Believe’t, I will.
By your furtherance I am cloth’d in steel;
And spite of all the rapture of the sea
This jewel holds his building on my arm.
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Unto thy value I will mount myself
Upon a courser, whose delightful steps
Shall make the gazer joy to see him tread.
Only, my friend, I yet am unprovided of a pair of
bases.
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2 FISHERMAN We’ll sure provide; thou shalt have my
best gown to make thee a pair, and I’ll bring thee to the
court myself.
PERICLES Then honour be but equal to my will,
This day I’ll rise, or else add ill to ill. Exeunt.
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2.2 Enter SIMONIDES, with Lords and attendants and THAISA.
SIMONIDES
Are the knights ready to begin the triumph?
1 LORD They are, my liege,
And stay your coming to present themselves.
SIMONIDES
Return them we are ready; and our daughter,
In honour of whose birth these triumphs are,
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Sits here like Beauty’s child, whom Nature gat
For men to see, and seeing wonder at. Exit a Lord.
[Simonides and Thaisa take seats in the pavilion, facing
the public way.]
THAISA It pleaseth you, my royal father, to express
My commendations great, whose merit’s less.
SIMONIDES It’s fit it should be so; for princes are
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A model which heaven makes like to itself:
As jewels lose their glory if neglected,
So princes their renowns if not respected.
’Tis now your honour, daughter, to entertain
The labour of each knight in his device.
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THAISA Which, to preserve mine honour, I’ll perform.
[The first knight passes by, and his squire presents
his shield to the Princess.]
SIMONIDES Who is the first that doth prefer himself?
THAISA A knight of Sparta, my renowned father;
And the device he bears upon his shield
Is a black Ethiop reaching at the sun;
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The word, Lux tua vita mihi.
[She hands the shield to Simonides who returns it
through her to the page.]
SIMONIDES He loves you well that holds his life of you.
[The second knight passes.]
Who is the second that presents himself?
THAISA A prince of Macedon, my royal father;
And the device he bears upon his shield
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Is an arm’d knight that’s conquer’d by a lady;
The motto thus, in Spanish, Più per dolcezza che per forza.
[The third knight passes.]
SIMONIDES And what’s the third?
THAISA The third of Antioch;
And his device, a wreath of chivalry;
The word, Me pompae provexit apex.
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[The fourth knight passes.]
SIMONIDES What is the fourth?
THAISA A burning torch that’s turned upside down;
The word, Qui me alit, me extinguit.
SIMONIDES
Which shows that beauty hath his power and will,
Which can as well inflame as it can kill.
The Arden Shakespeare Complete Works Page 432